Baltimore Rising Page #11

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that whole leadership complex

is both really troubling

for the person who is told

that they need to

be the leader, but it's also

troubling for the community,

because it places

all of the responsibility

on one person,

when it needs to be

the collective effort.

Activism, as a young person,

has just been so draining

for me.

Um... and so, just, like,

my whole being needs healing

and I just need

a break, really.

- What's the format

of the meeting?

Are we eating and then talking?

- Something like that.

- Come and eat.

- So, Makayla,

you called the family meeting.

- Mm-hmm.

- Do tell.

- Okay, so, like,

I've been thinking

that I want to take a gap year

after I graduate.

Period.

- No.

- No.

Well, that's the end

of the meeting.

- You have been so busy

that you can't even

get it together.

I think what our concern is,

one gap year may end up

being ten gap years.

- I-I feel a bit conflicted,

because it's not what

I had planned for you.

- Mm-hmm.

- But more importantly,

it's not what I thought

you had planned for you.

- Right.

- The gap year...

can be productive, or it can

be destructive,

depending on how

you utilize your time,

because if you're going

to utilize your time

doing everything

for everybody but Makayla...

- But, like, I'm going to make

my checkpoints known

to the people in this room,

and so,

a part of this meeting

is, like...

me asking that you all

serve as, like,

the people who will hold me

accountable to that.

- If you feel honest

within yourself

that you're taking

this year off to actually

do stuff to get better

within yourself...

- Mm-hmm.

- Then I'm all for it.

- 'Cause you're gonna do

what you want to do anyway,

so, God bless you.

I knew you had skills

when you called the police

on your mother.

- Let's see... she was about

two or three.

I went downstairs,

and she was upstairs,

watching television,

and the phone rang,

and I answered it.

And I said, "Hello?"

And they said,

"Did someone call 911?"

I said no.

So I went upstairs,

and I said,

"Did you use the phone?"

She said, "Yes, ma'am."

I said, "Who did you call?"

She said, "You said

if someone hurt me,

to call 911"...

She said...

she said, "You hurt me when

you were combing my hair"...

"So I called 911."

Three years old,

I should have known

there would be hell to pay,

raising this girl.

- Look, justice is justice.

- No justice, no peace.

"So I called 911."

- It's weird... you know,

this is my first trial.

Wish that, uh...

my family was, like,

more supportive.

So I contacted the ACLU,

'cause I didn't have the money

to pay for my own

private attorney this time.

Not a good judge to go for...

Which is why I, like,

started freaking out,

came outside to smoke

a cigarette.

The entire time

we had this trial,

no group paid my bills.

No group paid my bail funds.

No group helped me out...

no activist group.

All right, wish me luck.

- Good luck, brother.

- So, you guys have heard, uh,

the-the verdict.

The judge found our client,

Mr. Rosebrough,

not guilty of three counts

and guilty of one count.

We totally disagree

with the court's decision

that he is guilty of anything.

- Well, the trial

for one of the six officers

involved in the arrest

of Freddie Gray

starts today in Baltimore.

- Officer Caesar Goodson faces

second-degree

depraved-heart murder charges

and several others.

- It's hard to feel like

a woman in this, um...

in this job sometimes.

Especially trying

to be beautiful at all.

You try to take your emotions

out of a case,

but it's impossible.

I'm always nervous

going into a trial.

Um... testimony is one of

the most stressful times

in your career,

because everything,

at that point, falls on you.

I don't want you

to be worried about what...

what other people

are gonna say,

what other people are

gonna think, you know...

I'm gonna be your mom forever,

and what people out there think

doesn't even matter.

- Okay.

- Muah.

Bye.

Just feeling anxious about...

about going in there,

and it's such a huge moment

for-for everyone.

You know,

I've gotten death threats,

and... people threatening

to hurt my kids.

As the lead detective

in the case,

my job was to go

back over everything,

as a homicide investigator,

with a fine-tooth comb.

And I guess that's why

I felt so gut-wrenchingly,

you know, torn

when the charges were brought,

because I know

every detail of the case.

It was a freak accident.

I've been trying to pull up

on my phone...

I can't get...

the thing is not coming up.

- ...30 juveniles

along Pratt Street,

towards the subway.

- Not guilty!

Not guilty!

- Oh, God... God, I've missed it.

Oh, damn it.

Damn it... oh, my...

I'll be on it.

- Not guilty on all.

- Oh!

- ...arrest and death

of Freddie Gray.

- We continue

to follow breaking news

of the trial

of Officer Caesar Goodson,

where he was just acquitted

on seven charges.

- Yes!

- He was one of six officers

charged in connection

with the arrest

and death of Freddie Gray.

- Thank God.

- He has been found not guilty

on all charges.

It's the signal up here,

'cause mine's not working

right now.

The one in the...

- Could people have been more

vigilant in the transport

and everything?

Definitely.

Could people have been

paying more attention?

Definitely.

But as far as...

across the country,

police brutality

and stuff...

this wasn't the case.

- Just look at

all of this bullshit.

In fact...

This is bullshit.

- The judge...

- Come on!

- Who is within his right,

has made it clear

that he doesn't agree

with the state's theory

of the case

and does not believe

that any of the actions

or inactions of these officers

rise to the level

of criminality.

We do not believe that

Freddie Gray killed himself.

However,

after much thought and prayer,

it has become clear

to me that, without being able

to work with an independent

investigatory agency

from the very start,

without real substantive

reforms to the current

criminal justice system,

we could try this case

100 times...

and cases just like it...

and we would still

end up with the same result.

- Yes, Marilyn!

- Accordingly,

I have decided not to proceed

on the cases

against Officer Garrett,

Sergeant Alisha White,

or to re-litigate the case

against William Porter.

- We have no business

in this place.

It's time to leave.

It is time to leave and take

all of our beautiful creations

with us.

It is time to sue

these motherfuckers

for the appropriation

of everything cool,

from f***ing cornrows

to rap music... f*** it,

every form of popular music

on planet Earth

was built by us,

so sue they ass for it,

get the money,

and get the f*** out of here.

Take the light bulbs with you,

'cause we...

you know, we did that too.

And the traffic light,

we did that too.

And peanut butter, and rope.

This sh*t is either gonna turn

really, really, really,

really, really, really,

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